Festivals in Bali

Because Bali is a religious Island and because the main religion is Hinduism, visitors may mistake being here for spending time in India. Like the subcontinent, there is rarely a time when some form of festival is not taking place and these festivals invariably involve some form of coloured face make up, gigantic icon statues and puppets, and all kind of music, incense, colour and movement.

Balinese celebrate festivals together, or individually, when families celebrate and worship their personal house deities, for example.

Religious festivals in Bali include odalan, a festival that mark’s the anniversary of a temple’s opening and this festival can run for an entire week and are signified by flowers, flags and lots and lots of music and noise.

Another common religious festival is melasti. This is a festival of purification and many will dress up in their very best clothes and head towards the waters edge where they will bathe and play music. After this festival, a period of silence or at least general quiet, follows.

Nyepi is the festival that follows melasti and it falls at the beginning of the new lunar year which tends to occur each Spring in early April. Even holiday makers are expected to observe the calm and peace that is called for on this day and most businesses including hotels will be closed or at least, non-staffed.

Galungan is observed over the eleventh week of the Balinese calendar and marks creation of everything visible in the natural world. This is a family oriented festival and is marked by feasting and drinking (not alcohol, necessarily).

This major festival is followed by Kuningan which marks the end of the festive period. Water temples and most expecially the water temples of Ubud are centres of this very popular festival.

Many other Bali festivals have nothing whatsoever to do with religion. The Negara bull races take place between July and October and feature decorated bulls harnessed in chariots ridden by festive local jockeys. Watch out if a couple come barreling around a street corner in your direction.

The rice harvest festival is marked with dolls made from rice and a general sense of happiness and feasting, and Indonesian Independence Day is marked in Bali, naturally.

Balinese welcome foreigners into their festivals. The more the merrier, but be sure to dress appropriately – there is no need to dress up or follow festive costume, but flip flops and beach attire would be considered inappropriate.